Fall 2012

National Marine Sanctuaries

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

anniversary of the

National Marine Sanctuaries

40th
1 40 Years Strong

4 Next 40 Years

6 Origins: Monitor

7 Origins: Channel Islands

8 Origins: Flower Gardens 

9 The Long Struggle

14 Sanctuary Foundation

15 A Change of Heart

19 Sanctuary Snapshot

40th Anniversary

In this Issue

“A unique system of marine protected areas 

dedicated to the conservation of special areas of the 

marine environment for the appreciation and enjoyment 

of present and future generations.”

President William J. Clinton, November 13, 2000

Sanctuaries: 

 40 Years 

One of the best ideas born in the United States is the idea of a national 

marine sanctuary — something akin to a national park, but residing in 

the deep, linked to the land by human use and humanity’s capacity to care. 

Unlike America’s national parks, which were born in the 19th century, and the National Park Service, which began in 1916, national 

marine sanctuaries are a more recent achievement. This fall, the National Marine Sanctuary System reaches its four-decade milestone. The story of those 40 

years is one of dedicated perseverance, struggle, triumph and an ongoing commitment to 

serve the people and the resource.

The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries is part of NOAA’s 

National Ocean Service. 1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring MD 

20910 | Phone: 301-713-3125 | Web: http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov

SANCTUARY WATCH is a publication of the Education, Outreach and 

New Media Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. NOAA is an 

agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

How to Subscribe: To subscribe to Sanctuary Watch electronically, 

please send an e-mail to requests@willamette.nos.noaa.gov and put 

the following in the e-mail subject line: subscribe sanctuarywatch

DIVISION chief.............. Michiko Martin

editor ........................... Matt Dozier

Design/Layout ............ Matt McIntosh

Copy editors............... Matt Dozier

 Matt McIntosh

 contributors

James Delgado Matt McIntosh

Matt Dozier Liz Moore

Michiko Martin Valarie Thorpe

Special Thanks to the Top 40 Team

Printed on Recycled Paperup

Clockwise from top: Oiled bird 

from 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill; 

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson; 

air pollution from smokestacks; 

Torrey Canyon oil spill in 1967

Photo: ©Jim Watt/NOAA

Tom Myers Photography
???? 201? Sanctuary Watch 1

1972

1975

1975Nation’s first national marine sanctuary, Monitor National

Marine Sanctuary, is established off the shores of North

Carolina in the Graveyard of the Atlantic to protect the recently 

discovered wreck of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor.

 Strong

Conservation Takes Root

Early efforts to conserve or protect resources 

in the sea began with a late-19th-century push to 

manage marine mammal populations in danger 

of being exploited beyond any hope of recovery. 

The U.S. Fish Commission, created in 1871 by 

President Ulysses S. Grant, was another effort, 

as were treaties governing the hunting of species 

like fur seals in the Gulf of Alaska and the Arctic. 

Faced with pressure to harvest the eggs 

of the abundant seabird population of California’s Farallon Islands, President Theodore 

Roosevelt set aside some of the islands as a 

wildlife refuge in 1909, but like other protected areas — including national parks and 

seashores — little attention was given to what 

lay beyond the shore and beneath the surface.

There were those, however — ocean scientists, explorers and others with a deep understanding of the sea — who saw that the ocean, 

no matter how vast it seemed, needed protection every bit as urgently as the land.

Garbage strewn on beaches highlighted a 

problem with ocean dumping as early as the 

1890s, as unhappy bathers waded through 

waste-laden surf, but other harmful activities like trawling, dredging 

and pollution from offshore sewage outfalls remained out of sight 

and out of mind for most Americans.

An S.O.S. from the Sea

The conservation movement of the 1960s signaled growing public concern about the environment, spurred by environmental catastrophes like the grounding of the tanker Torrey Canyon in March 

1967, which leaked more than 35 million gallons of oil off the shores 

of Cornwall, England. In the United States, an oil well blowout in 

January 1969 spilled another 400,000 gallons of crude into the Santa 

by James P. Delgado

Barbara Channel, coating Southern California beaches and marine life for miles.

Famed ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau issued a 

blunt call to action in November 1970 when he declared that “the oceans are dying,” citing overfishing, 

pollution, dying coral reefs and widespread declines in 

marine life as evidence of their demise. In the aftermath 

of the Santa Barbara oil spill, this was a tipping point, 

as protests, hearings and public outcry for federal action 

prompted Congress and the White House to step in.

Amid the flurry of environmental legislation 

passed in the early 1970s, the Marine Protection, 

Research and Sanctuaries was signed into law by 

President Richard M. Nixon on Oct. 23, 1972. The 

act gave the secretary of commerce the authority to 

designate “marine sanctuaries” for the preservation 

or restoration of areas with special “conservation, 

recreational, ecological, or esthetic values.”

The Sanctuaries Are Born

Ironically, it was not a teeming coral reef or a 

stretch of beautiful coastline but the long lost wreck 

of an iconic warship that would garner the title of 

America’s first national marine sanctuary. When the 

Civil War ironclad USS Monitor was discovered in 

1973 off Cape Hatteras, N.C., after more than a century in its watery grave, 

no law other than the Sanctuaries Act was thought sufficient to protect it.

On Jan. 30, 1975, Monitor National Marine Sanctuary was signed into existence by President Gerald Ford, setting a precedent for the use of the Sanctuaries Act to protect America’s most precious and fragile underwater treasures. 

Later that year, a second sanctuary was born when President Ford approved 

the designation of Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary on Dec. 18.

Additional sanctuaries came slowly as the sanctuary system, part of the 

newly created National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, studied 

potential sites for federal sanctuary designation. A 1979 list included 67 

possible candidates, underscoring the program’s urgent necessity as well as 

its tremendous potential. 

The National Marine Sanctuaries Act

 is signed on Oct. 23, 1972, laying

 the groundwork for a system 

of marine protected 

areas to protect the most important parts of our 

ocean and Great Lakes and build a marine 

stewardship ethic across the country.

BEGINNING

1

Act 

1st Sanctuary

Blackened beaches and oil-soaked animals 

from the Santa Barbara oil spill in California, 

and the Cuyahoga River fire in Cleveland, Ohio, 

became the catalyst for the environmental 

movement that gave birth to the National Marine Sanctuaries Act.

Photo: (bottom) Thomas James, Cleveland Press Collection; (top) courtesy Bob Duncan
2 Sanctuary Watch ???? 201?

1980

1981

Sanctuary

channel islands 1977 1980

1975

It was not until September 1980, however, that the third sanctuary, 

in California’s Channel Islands, was signed into law by President Jimmy Carter. At the end of his administration in January 1981, President 

Carter designated Point-Reyes Farallon Islands, Gray’s Reef, and Looe 

Key national marine sanctuaries off the coasts of California, Georgia and 

Florida, respectively. Now there were six — and demand for more.

Expanding the System

Political currents can sweep as strong as the ocean’s own, and a number 

of potential designations were shelved or dropped in the following years. 

The original list of sanctuary candidates was officially replaced in 1983 by 

a new tool, the Site Evaluation List (SEL), which focused on 29 possible 

sanctuaries. While individual designations languished, however, political 

support for the sanctuary concept remained strong. Congress reauthorized 

the National Marine Sanctuaries Act several times during this span, including in 1977, 1980 and 1983. 

In its 1983 reauthorization of the Act, Congress added significant new 

tools to create sanctuaries. “Historical” and “cultural” qualities, which had long 

been an essential part of national park and monument designations on land, 

were declared worthy criteria for making a sanctuary. The requirement that 

the president approve a new sanctuary was dropped, and other values key to a 

site’s significance, including its research and educational potential, were added. 

With these new tools in place, NOAA designated Fagatale Bay National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of American Samoa in 1986, the 

first marine sanctuary outside the mainland United States and a key stepping stone to future sites in Hawaii. The eighth site came in 1989, when 

NOAA designated Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary off the coast 

of Northern California.

In 1990, Congress designated Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, which incorporated Looe Key and Key Largo into a single, much larger sanctuary. The following decade saw the designation of five additional 

national marine sanctuaries: Flower Garden Banks in the Gulf of Mexico, 

Monterey Bay in California, Stellwagen Bank off Cape Cod, a humpback 

whale sanctuary in Hawaii, and Washington state’s Olympic Coast.

Looking Backward, Moving Forward

Like the National Park System, the National Marine Sanctuary System is part of the fabric of America. That was reinforced in 2000 with the 

creation of the 13th sanctuary in Thunder Bay on Michigan’s Lake Huron. 

Thunder Bay is a “museum in the deep,” with upwards of 100 well-preserved 

shipwrecks from more than a century of maritime travel and commerce. 

The following year, another major milestone came in the form of the Tortugas Ecological Reserve, then the nation’s largest fully protected marine area. 

The reserve, which was created in 2001 with intensive community input and 

full scientific support, placed unprecedented new protections on 200 square 

miles of fragile coral reef habitat within Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. In the years following its designation, the reserve has shown impressive 

increases in the size and abundance of marine life within its boundaries.

The sanctuary system gained its 14th site in 2006, when President George 

W. Bush issued an executive order directing NOAA to serve as the primary trustee of the newly established Papahānaumokuākea Marine National 

Monument. The monument is one of the largest marine protected areas on 

The demise of coral reefs 

in the Florida Keys leads 

to the establishment 

of Key Largo National 

Marine Sanctuary.

1981

Continued environmental 

degradation in the 

Keys results in 

desgination of 

Looe Key 

National 

Marine 

Sanctuary.

Key Largo

“Jaws” is the #1 movie at 

the box office for 1975.

MTV 

debuts.

1975

Apple 

Computer 

1977

incorporates.

1,500-square-mile 

Channel Islands 

National Marine 

Sanctuary is designated to protect 

the islands in the 

Santa Barbara 

Channel from the 

threat of offshore 

drilling.

Sanctuary

Sanctuary

2
???? 201? Sanctuary Watch 3

Sanctuary

Sanctuary

First class 

stamp is 

20 cents.

Gray’s Reef National Marine 

Sanctuary is designated to 

protect the abundance and 

diversity of invertebrate life at 

the heart of this live-bottom 

reef off the Georgia coast.

The Next 40 Years

Peering 40 years into the future is a daunting prospect, 

especially given the rapid changes in our world today. Consider that when the National Marine Sanctuaries Act was 

passed four decades ago the Soviet Union was a global superpower, the Internet did not exist, our country had almost 

no economic ties with China, and there were more than 100 

million fewer Americans. So, how can one hope to meaningfully project the course of the next 40 years? 

To think about this in a useful way, we must recognize that while many things will change 

in unpredictable ways, others remain constant — man’s relationship to the natural world, to 

the processes that sustain life, and to our very ability to survive and prosper, for example. 

My “crystal ball” says that special places like national marine sanctuaries will play a larger 

role in connecting us to the world around us and helping to navigate how we create, support 

and maintain behaviors that sustain our world. Special places will help shine bright lights on 

what is possible; they will serve as beacons to communities that show the world how seemingly small solutions can add up to solve the big issues we face.

Just like the last 40, the next 40 years promise to be full of many challenging changes. As 

we face them, we need to remind ourselves that most problems can be tackled at the local 

level, by communities that choose to take responsibility for leaving our ocean healthier and 

more productive for generations to come.

The way forward involves a renewed focus on personal investment in ocean conservation, 

driven by the pride and inspiration we take from the special places that matter to us most. 

National marine sanctuaries are a symbol of that investment. They embody the nation’s 

best idea about how to fight for the natural world our society depends on, over the next 40 

years and beyond. In the end, it comes down to a simple but powerful message: Special 

places are vital to America’s future.

The M/V Wellwood

runs aground in the Florida 

Keys with devastating results, 

destroying more than 5,800 

square meters of living corals 

and injuring more than 75,000 

square meters of reef habitat. 

Earth, encompassing nearly 140,000 square miles of 

unspoiled ocean wilderness in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Management responsibility for this 

vast area is shared between NOAA, the Department 

of the Interior and the state of Hawaii, based on plans 

developed through the sanctuary designation efforts 

for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef 

Ecosystem Reserve. It continues to be considered for 

sanctuary designation in order to provide the area the 

full protections afforded through the National Marine 

Sanctuaries Act, our nation’s strongest ocean conservation legislation.

Over the past decade, the work of the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries has focused on partnering 

with communities, scientific study, and increased outreach to the public. The key, stresses ONMS Director 

Daniel J. Basta, is “projection” — not just protection.

Indeed, the sanctuaries have experienced incredible discoveries of marine life and lost ships, unparalleled involvement by citizen-scientists and volunteers, 

and major strides in ocean science, management and 

education — all made possible by an ongoing commitment to the vision of 40 years ago. That vision, of 

a national system of ocean and lake special places vital 

to the economy, health and soul of the United States, 

will continue to guide our national marine sanctuaries for the next 40 years and beyond.

Gulf of the Farallones National 

Marine Sanctuary is 

designated off San 

Francisco, Calif.

gray’s reef

Gulf of the Farallones

1984

1984

1983 1983

By Daniel J. Basta

Mooring Buoys

Key Largo National 

Marine Sanctuary

becomes the first in 

the world to develop 

mooring buoys as an

alternative to anchoring 

on coral or other 

substrate, charting 

the use of mooring 

buoys as a reef 

management 

strategy.

Photos (left to right): Greg McFall, NOAA, NOAA, Robert Schwemmer, NOAA

Photo: Jaime Windon
1987

Sa nctu a r y

Origins

Monitor | Channel Islands | Flower Garden Banks 1988SS Winfield Scott,

a Gold Rush-era sidewheel 

steamer in the Channel Islands 

National Marine Sanctuary, 

is designated on the National 

Register of Historic Places.

1989

Sanctuary

1987Los Marineros

Program

Channel Islands National 

Marine Sanctuary 

establishes the Los 

Marineros program in 

partnership with the 

Santa Barbara Museum 

of Natural History to 

empower fifth-grade 

students to preserve 

and protect the 

global ocean.

1988

The Simpsons premieres 

as a series of shorts on 

the Tracy Ullman show.

1986 1986Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary, 

protecting the coral reef ecosystem of 

the drowned volcano mouth in American 

Samoa, becomes the first and only 

national marine sanctuary in the 

southern hemisphere.

Fagatele Bay

Protecting the destination feeding ground for migratory marine 

mammals and seabirds, Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, 

an underwater mountain off of Point Reyes, Calif., is designated.

By Matt Dozier

Chernobyl nuclear disaster

Cordell Bank

A series of popular demonstrations 

takes place in and near Tiananmen 

Square in Beijing, China

1989

Painting of the Battle of Hampton Roads by J.O. Davidson. Courtesy of the Mariners’ Museum; Photoshop: Matt McIntosh

Sanctuary 
Origins

Monterey Bay

1992

On a stormy night in December 1862, one of the most 

famous ships in history vanished into the depths of the 

Atlantic Ocean.

The ironclad USS Monitor, a Civil War icon and the salvation of the 

Union Navy, had been in service less than a year 

when it sank in a vicious gale off Cape Hatteras, 

N.C. The Monitor had fought the Confederate 

ironclad CSS Virginia on March 9 at Hampton 

Roads, Va., in a battle that marked the dawn of 

a new age of iron warships — but iron was no 

match for the wrath of the ocean. The flicker of 

the Monitor’s red signal lantern was last seen by 

the steamer USS Rhode Island, which was towing it south when large waves swamped the lowriding ironclad.

A Missing Icon Resurfaces

Lost to the clutches of the sea for more than 

a century, the Monitor was finally discovered 

in 1973 after decades of fruitless searching. It 

was found in 230 feet of water, 16 miles off the 

North Carolina coast. 

To the dismay of those who were concerned 

about the Monitor falling victim to looters, the 

wreck was thought to be outside the scope of 

any recognized federal authority. A U.S. Navy 

official had written a letter in 1953 abandoning 

it from the inventory of Navy vessels to facilitate its discovery and possible salvage by private 

entities. No one seemed to know how to protect 

this newly discovered national treasure. 

An Ironclad Finds a Champion

No one, that is, except Congressman Walter B. Jones Sr., representative for North Carolina’s 

Outer Banks. Just a year before the Monitor’s discovery, Jones had championed the passage of the 

Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries of 1972, which granted the secretary of commerce 

the authority to designate “marine sanctuaries” to protect areas of special value in U.S. waters.

When the Monitor was found off the coast of his home state, Jones saw an opportunity to put 

the so-called Sanctuaries Act to use. Some people favored creating an entirely new law to protect 

the Civil War ironclad, but he had another solution: make the Monitor a national marine sanctuary.

“It was a pretty amazing coincidence that the act passed just before the Monitor was discovered,” 

says John Broadwater, former manager of the Monitor sanctuary and author of a new book on the 

history of the Monitor.

Testing the Sanctuary Waters

Still, a few obstacles stood in the way. First, no one had ever created a marine sanctuary before. 

And second, the act was never intended to protect maritime heritage resources like shipwrecks — 

even one as significant as the first ironclad warship. The original language of the Sanctuaries Act 

made no mention whatsoever of historical, cultural or archaeological value.

How, then, did the USS Monitor become America’s first national marine sanctuary? “It was really 

an ‘emergency rescue’ kind of situation,” Broadwater says.

Thanks in large part to the work of Congressman Jones and others like Harold “Doc” Edgerton 

(a respected MIT scientist who was part of the discovery team) a growing number of scientists, 

politicians and ocean managers came to view sanctuary designation as the best — and perhaps the 

only — means of protecting the Monitor. Without swift action, they agreed, the vessel could be irreparably damaged or even destroyed.

USS Monitor Makes History — Again

In September 1974, the North Carolina Division of Archives and History formally nominated 

the Monitor for sanctuary designation. NOAA worked with the Smithsonian Institution and the 

state of North Carolina to create plans for management, protection and research at the site. 

Just four months later, on Jan. 30, 1975, President Gerald Ford approved the designation of the 

wreck of the USS Monitor as the first U.S. national marine sanctuary. In many ways, the designation 

set the tone for the future of the National Marine Sanctuary System — both in its recognition of 

the importance of our maritime heritage, and in its emergence as a means of protecting the nation’s 

underwater treasures when all other options fail.

First sanctuary advisory council 

convenes for Florida Keys 

National Marine 

Sanctuary.

Monterey Bay National 

Marine Sanctuary, 

the largest national marine sanctuary at the time, 

is designated in 

California.

Dawn of A New Age

Monitor Na tion a l M a rine Sa nctu a r y

Act

Sanctuary (ADDITion)

After a series of devastating boat groundings in 

the Florida Keys, the Florida Keys National Marine 

Sanctuary and Protection Act is signed to create 

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Sanctuary

Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary,

110 miles off the Texas-Louisiana border, 

is designated (see Origins page 7).

1992

 Flower 

 Garden 

 Banks

Sanctuary

Berlin Wall 

is taken down

1990 1990

First sanctuary advisory council

5
Origins

Stellwagen

1992

19931994Water quality Programs

Water quality protection programs are 

created in Florida Keys and Monterey 

Bay national marine sanctuaries.

BeachWatch

Gulf of the Farallones 

National Marine 

Sanctuary begins 

its BeachWatch 

program, one of the 

first citizen-science 

monitoring projects 

within NOAA and one 

that continues today.

The black ooze arrived in waves, 

coating beaches and sea life 

with a sinister sheen. Residents 

watched, horrified, as relief workers labored to clean scores of oilcovered seabirds. Dead seals and 

dolphins washed up, poisoned by the toxic sludge.

This was the scene in Santa Barbara following 

the disastrous blowout of Union Oil’s Platform 

A on Jan. 28, 1969, just six miles from the California coastline, spewing more than 3.2 million 

gallons of crude oil in one of the worst environmental catastrophes in history. 

Reeling from Disaster

The Channel Islands, sometimes called the 

“Galapagos of North America” for their diverse 

mixture of cold- and warm-water marine life, 

were among the areas tarnished by the spill. 

Clearly visible from seaside towns, these jewels 

of the California coast would become the focal 

point for a community-driven effort to safeguard 

the state’s ocean ecosystems against further harm.

The backlash from the spill was swift and furious. Images of an oil-streaked ocean and tearful citizens 

reached televisions in households across America, sparking widespread outcry against oil drilling along 

the nation’s coastline. President Nixon ordered an immediate (temporary) halt to drilling in the Santa 

Barbara Channel, saying that the devastation had “touched the conscience of the American people.”

New Hope for the Environment

In the years following the spill, Congress passed a flurry of environmental legislation. These 

groundbreaking laws included the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, the 

Coastal Zone Management Act and the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries of 1972. 

It was the latter that caught the attention of Richard Charter, director of a local government 

coalition on ocean issues, in the late 1970s as he and others searched for a way to defend California’s 

coastline from oil drilling. The first national marine sanctuary had just been designated in 1975 

around the wreck of the USS Monitor, with the second coming that same year in Key Largo, Fla. 

Charter and his colleagues saw sanctuary designation as their best shot at permanently protecting 

the waters around the Channel Islands.

Spurred by lingering fears and outrage over the oil spill, a coalition of mayors, city councils and 

county supervisors nominated the Channel Islands for sanctuary designation in 1978. NOAA’s Office of Coastal Zone Management — then in charge of the sanctuary program — held public meetings, listened to community input, and drafted an environmental impact statement and regulations 

for the proposed sanctuary.

Around the same time, Congressman Robert Lagomarsino of Santa Barbara introduced a bill to 

establish a national park encompassing Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, and Santa 

Barbara Islands. With the help of Congressman Phillip Burton and Senator Alan Cranston, the bill 

passed, and President Jimmy Carter signed Channel Islands National Park into law in March 1980.

Destination: Designation

Meanwhile, the sanctuary designation process was nearly derailed by the presence of active oil 

and gas leases within the proposed sanctuary boundaries. Environmentalists were afraid of the precedent set by potentially allowing drilling in an otherwise protected area. Charter pushed back, arguing that the benefits of the sanctuary outweighed other concerns. “I remember saying in meetings, 

‘Just do it! Just create the sanctuary!’” he says. “I’m still amazed it happened, frankly.”

In the end, Charter says, the societal “post-traumatic stress” from the 1969 oil spill — still painful a decade later — was strong enough to carry the sanctuary through the designation process. 

On Sept. 22, 1980, six months after he created the national park, President Carter signed off on 

the designation of Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, protecting the waters around the 

islands out to six nautical miles.

As the nation’s third national marine sanctuary and the first in California waters, the Channel 

Islands — with their incredible biological diversity and complex mixture of human uses — would 

become a cornerstone of the National Marine Sanctuary System for decades to come.

Act

1993Nelson Mandela wins the 

Nobel Peace Prize.

Sanctuary

Stellwagen Bank National 

Marine Sanctuary is designated off Cape Cod in 

Massachusetts.

Sanctuary

Hawaiian Islands Humpback 

Whale National Marine Sanctuary

is designated to protect the North 

Pacific population of endangered 

humpback whales.

Galapagos of North america

c h a nnel isl a n d s Na tion a l M a rine Sa nctu a r y

199

6

Photo: Robert Schwemmer
Origins

Located roughly 100 miles south of 

the Texas-Louisiana border, the 

Flower Garden Banks are an underwater oasis in the vast muddy 

plains of the Gulf seafloor. Rising 

from depths of more than 300 

feet to within 55 feet of the surface, these twin 

“salt domes” boast the northernmost coral reefs 

in the continental U.S., along with a multitude of 

underwater life in all colors and sizes.

A Secret “Garden”

Snapper fishermen have known about the 

Flower Garden Banks since the early 1800s, although records dating back that far are spotty. 

Legend has it the banks got their name from the 

brilliantly hued anemones, corals and sponges 

that anglers would occasionally haul up from the 

reef crest, like picking flowers from a particularly 

strange and wonderful garden. 

The first recorded discovery of East and West 

Flower Garden Banks and nearby Stetson Bank 

came in 1936, when a hydrographic survey conducted by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

mapped a large swath of the Gulf of Mexico 

seafloor. These unusual geological formations 

gained widespread attention in the 1960s as researchers, recreational divers and the oil industry 

began to take an interest in the banks for their 

scientific value, their extraordinary beauty — 

and their hidden mineral wealth.

Father of the Flower Gardens

Dr. Tom Bright of Texas A&M University 

was one of the first scientists to explore the 

Flower Garden Banks in the early 1970s. “I 

was just a young assistant professor looking for 

something to do with myself,” Bright jokes. 

Working in partnership with Robert Alderdice 

yellow snapping shrimp

A new species of shrimp, the yellow 

snapping shrimp, is discovered 

in Flower Garden Banks National 

Marine Sanctuary.

Gardens in the gulf

Flo w er Ga r d en B a nks Na tion a l M a rine Sa nctu a r y

of the University of Texas Flower Garden Ocean Research Center, Bright and his team of graduate students used scuba gear to delve underwater and catalog the area’s remarkably diverse species and habitats. 

The work gained Bright a reputation as the “father of the Flower Gardens” and laid the groundwork for 

the banks’ eventual designation as a national marine sanctuary. 

The road to designation would be a long one, fraught with false starts and political roadblocks. 

The subject of sanctuary protection for the Flower Garden Banks first came up in the mid-1970s, 

when the oil and gas industry began expanding offshore to the Gulf of Mexico’s outer continental shelf. Concern over impacts to sensitive ecosystems pushed the Bureau of Land Management 

(BLM) to fund new environmental studies across the northwestern Gulf, enabling Bright and others 

to create detailed maps of the areas in need of protection.

Seeking a Sanctuary 

A Texas recreational scuba diving group called the Houston Underwater Club submitted the first 

official nomination to create a national marine sanctuary at the Flower Garden Banks in 1979. The 

effort stalled, however, in the face of opposition from wary oil industry representatives and fishermen. “That first effort sort of stumbled, and tripped, and didn’t get anywhere,” Bright recalls. 

In 1982, the site was removed from NOAA’s list of active candidates for designation — just a year 

after Mobil Oil Company installed the first oil platform near East Flower Garden Bank. Sanctuary 

opponents had claimed that the Flower Gardens were already protected by other federal authorities 

like the Minerals Management Service (formerly BLM) and NOAA Fisheries Service.

In fact, strict MMS lease guidelines did succeed in protecting the Flower Garden Banks from 

contamination due to offshore drilling. What they couldn’t prevent was another devastating human 

impact: ocean-going vessels dropping their massive anchors directly onto the banks’ fragile coral reefs. 

A New Hope

One day in October 1983, researchers were doing scientific monitoring work at East Flower Garden Bank when a tow boat dragged its anchor over the bank, cutting a scar in the reef. The researchers 

caught the incident on video and shared it with Bright and others, who then showed it to everyone 

they could. “I think that incident was the trigger that set the final wheels in motion,” he says.

Within a year, the Flower Garden Banks were back on NOAA’s list for sanctuary designation — 

this time with support from Representative Solomon Ortiz of Texas, Representative John Breaux of 

Louisiana and NOAA Chief Scientist Sylvia Earle, among others. Even the oil industry began to warm 

to the idea of the sanctuary. The next eight years were consumed by the steady march toward designation, from draft environmental impact statement to public scoping meetings to final management plan. 

Finally, on January 17, 1992, the Flower Garden Banks were designated by President George H. 

W. Bush as the 10th site in the National Marine Sanctuary System. Nearby Stetson Bank was added 

to the sanctuary by Congress in 1996. It remains the only sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico, offering 

a valuable case study for productive cooperation between a unique offshore marine protected area 

and the Gulf ’s prevalent oil and gas industry.

1997

Ocean Count

More than 140 volunteers on O`ahu count Hawaii’s 

endangered whales with the Hawaiian Islands 

Humpback Whale Sanctuary’s Ocean Count. Over 

17 years, more than 20,000 volunteers have spent 

upwards of 100,000 hours counting whales and 

recording their behavior through the program.

Sanctuary

Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary is 

designated to protect a productive upwelling 

zone off the Washington coast.

1997

1996

SEALS

Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary’s Sanctuary 

Education Awareness and Long Term Stewardship (SEALS) 

program is created, recruiting over 65 volunteers to help protect 

pupping harbor seals in Tomales Bay and Bolinas Lagoon.

1995

The Internet commercialized.

Down Under, Out Yonder

Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary launches a new type 

of field experience for educators, the award-winning Down Under, Out 

Yonder workshop. Since 1996, over 350 educators have conducted 

important fish surveys and other reef monitoring activities while diving 

 in the sanctuary.

4

1996

7
8 Sanctuary Watch ???? 201?

1998

1999

funding increase

President Clinton signs 

into law a historic funding 

increase for the National 

Marine Sanctuary Program. The $11.7 million 

increase for the 12 marine 

sanctuaries nearly doubles 

the program’s budget of 

$14.4 million to $26 million.

Robert Schmieder kept a 

firm grip on the line as 

he descended headfirst 

into the watery void, 

 the noise of his scuba 

regulator bubbling rhythmically in 

his ears. Above him, the silhouette 

of the boat swayed placidly on the 

ocean’s surface. 

Around 60 feet down, a greenishgray blanket materialized out of the 

darkness below. His heart sank. Had 

they come all this way to find — 

what, exactly? A barren expanse of 

mud? As the hazy seafloor gradually 

came into focus, Schmieder realized 

that what he was looking at was not 

mud; it wasn’t the seafloor, at all. It 

was fish. Thousands of rockfish, floating almost motionless in the water column, formed a shimmering curtain 

that completely obscured his view of the bottom.

A hole opened in the curtain of fish as Schmieder drew nearer, widening “like an iris” to reveal a sight he will never forget. “I saw below 

me this extraordinarily colorful, exquisitely beautiful, astonishingly bright 

landscape,” he recalls. “It was an overwhelming visual experience.” There, 

some 100 feet below the waves, lay the object of Schmieder’s obsession, 

the focus of months of arduous planning and preparation. 

“At that moment, what went through my head was, ‘Holy smokes, I’m here. 

I’ve seen it. No matter what else I do in my life, I have seen Cordell Bank.’”

 An Obsession Begins

Schmieder’s quest began in the 

late 1970s while he was working at 

Sandia National Laboratories in 

the San Francisco Bay Area. A career physicist, he yearned to escape 

the lab and pursue new projects 

out in the field. He took up scuba 

diving, but quickly grew bored of 

underwater “sightseeing.” “I wanted to do something that required 

more than just the normal level of 

effort,” he says.

When news reports in 1977 

revealed that the U.S. government 

had stored radioactive waste in 

the ocean just off San Francisco, 

Schmieder was keen to investigate. 

He studied charts of the waters around the Farallon Islands, where hundreds of barrels of spent nuclear material lay at the bottom of the Pacific.

But something else caught his eye, something that made him forget 

about the barrels. There on the chart, not far from the islands, was an 

underwater mountain spanning some 26 square miles at the edge of the 

continental shelf. The name on the chart read “Cordell Bank.”

Schmieder had never heard of Cordell Bank. As it turned out, neither 

had pretty much anyone else. Those who knew about it dismissed it as a 

Sustainable Seas

The sanctuary system surges 

to the forefront of public 

attention in the ocean arena 

when NOAA partners with the 

National Geographic Society 

on a multimillion-dollar, fiveyear ocean exploration and 

public education project called 

Sustainable Seas.

1998

Sergey Brin and Larry 

Page incorporate their 

fledgling search engine.

First Sanctuary visitor center

opens at Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.

1999

Over the last 40 years, the National Marine Sanctuary System has been shaped by the energy 

individuals, separated by more than 2,000 miles and several decades, yet both struggling to re

The Long 

Continued on Page 10

CORDELL BANK: From Hidden Gem to Historic Discovery

Sanctuary Watch

makes its debut as a humble 

two-color, four-page, newsletter.

8

Photo: Cordell Expeditions
???? 201? Sanctuary Watch 9

+ Tortugas

2001

2000

Thunder Bay National Marine 

Sanctuary, created to protect the 

nationally significant collection 

of shipwrecks in Lake Huron, 

becomes the first fresh-water 

national marine sanctuary.

Executive Order

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands 

Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve 

is established by President 

Clinton by Executive Order.

2000

Norma Bishop 

grew up outside 

Chicago, but 

it’s the time she 

spent with her 

family on Lake Michigan that 

would leave the deepest impression on her life. “So many of my 

early experiences were on the water that I felt the lake was a part of 

me,” she says. “If I got homesick, I 

got homesick for the lake.”

Her love of the water led to a career in the U.S. Navy, during which 

she served as an air traffic controller in far-flung locations across the 

Pacific like the tropical atoll of Diego Garcia. She retired from active 

duty after 21 years of service and 

practiced law in San Francisco for several years before accepting a position as 

executive director of the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum in 2003.

In 2005, Bishop heard that the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, located 

in Manitowoc along the shores of Lake Michigan, was searching for a new 

CEO. News of the job opening brought memories from her childhood flooding back. “I never expected to come back here,” she says. “It was fate, I guess.”

A Wisconsin Sanctuary?

Fate or otherwise, Bishop got the job. For the first time in more than 25 

years, she returned to the lake she grew up on and quickly fell back in love 

with it. Working at the museum gave 

her a greater appreciation of the lake’s 

history — and the countless shipwrecks hidden beneath its surface 

like time capsules of centuries past.

“It’s one of the best collections of 

19th-century wrecks in the world,” 

says Keith Meverden, Wisconsin state underwater archaeologist. 

Around the time that Bishop arrived in Manitowoc, Meverden and 

colleague Tamara Thomsen were 

working on an inventory of those 

shipwrecks for the Wisconsin Historical Society. Their report evaluated Wisconsin’s collection of historic 

shipwrecks for the possibility of 

NOAA designating a national marine sanctuary in Wisconsin’s Great 

Lakes waters. The recommended study area included the Lake Michigan 

waters off of Two Rivers, Manitowoc, Cheboygan and Port Washington.

When Bishop learned in 2006 about the interest in a national marine sanctuary, she was enthralled with the idea. She visited Alpena, a 

small Michigan city on Lake Huron, where she saw the positive impact 

Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary had had on the local community 

in the six years since its designation. Residents spoke about the sanctuary’s revitalizing effect on tourism and how its education programs helped 

Fish Discovered

The Mardi Gras wrasse, 

a new species of fish, 

is discovered in Flower 

Garden Banks National 

Marine Sanctuary.

The first historic crossing 

from mainland California to 

Limuw (Santa Cruz Island) 

in a traditional plank canoe 

called a tomol signifies the 

return of the Chumash to 

the Channel Islands, an 

important place of origin 

for the Chumash people.

2001

By Matt Dozier

y and dedication of countless men and women. These are the stories of two such passionate 

each the same goal: permanent protection for our nation’s underwater treasures.

Struggle

Continued on Page 12

iPod revolutionized 

the music industry

WISCONSIN: Looking to the Future on Lake Michigan

Sanctuary

Sanctuary Foundation 

The National Marine Sanctuary 

Foundation is created to assist the 

sanctuary system with education 

and outreach programs to promote 

meaningful opportunities for public 

interaction with the nation’s marine 

sanctuaries (See page 13).

Florida Keys National Marine 

Sanctuary adds the 151-squarenautical-mile Tortugas Ecological 

Reserve, the nation’s largest fully 

protected marine reserve.

Tomol Crossing

9

Photo: Tamara Thomsen/Wisconsin Historical Society
10 Sanctuary Watch ???? 201?

2003

geological oddity, too deep to support plentiful life. He spoke to marine 

scientists at the California Academy of Sciences, who told him that exploring the bank would be a waste of time.

“That’s when I knew there was no competition for going out there,” 

Schmieder says. He was convinced that there was more to Cordell Bank 

than anyone realized, and decided that he would be the one to prove it.

The Right Stuff

Diving on the submerged mountain, 115 feet below the surface at its 

highest point, in the unpredictable ocean conditions 22 miles off Point 

Reyes would be difficult and dangerous work. For the expedition to succeed, Schmieder needed people who could handle the demands of such a 

strenuous environment. 

Finding interested divers wasn’t a problem (“They found me,” he says), 

but not everyone was suited for the work. Schmieder required all wouldbe expedition members to do a rehearsal dive with him down to 150 feet 

— a daunting challenge, even by modern scuba standards. 

“I told them, ‘You have to be obsessed by it. It’s going to require a lot of 

time, preparation and commitment in order to live through this,’” he says. 

“I found that about two-thirds of the people who said they wanted to go 

to Cordell Bank didn’t, after that.” 

Despite the high dropout rate, Schmieder assembled a team and 

founded the nonprofit research group Cordell Expeditions in 1977. 

Working over long weekends and using their own money, these passionate men and women spent the next year drawing up meticulous plans and 

assembling gear for the massive undertaking. 

Cordell Bank Goes Missing

On Oct. 22, 1978, the Cordell Expeditions vessel left the harbor and 

set a course for the nondescript blob on the chart labeled Cordell Bank. 

First discovered by George Davidson of the U.S. Coast Survey in 1853, 

Cordell Bank got its name from another surveyor, Edward Cordell, who 

mapped the bank in detail in 1869.

Schmieder and his crew neared what should have been the shallowest 

part of the bank, but something was amiss. Every depth measurement 

registered hundreds of feet, far deeper than expected. “We spent hours 

that day surveying,” he says. “I say surveying — we were wandering, hoping to find Cordell Bank!”

As the team began to contemplate heading home, Schmieder thought 

back to the account of Edward Cordell’s expedition more than a century 

prior, in which the surveyor described an abundance of seabirds filling 

the skies over the bank. With nothing to lose, Schmieder steered the boat 

toward a nearby gathering of gulls, terns and shearwaters. “Sure enough, 

bingo, we hit 20 fathoms!” he says. The mission was back on.

The descent line was lowered as Schmieder and fellow diver Larry 

Pfoutz prepared to get in the water, donning thick wetsuits and dual scuba 

tanks. Moments later, the two men took a long stride off the stern of the 

boat and plunged into the unknown.

From Curiosity to Concern

On that first dive, Schmieder was awed by the kaleidoscope of life atop 

the bank, with its hues of pink and purple and orange and white. Here, 

just 50 miles northwest of the heart of San Francisco, was a thriving marine ecosystem unlike anything he’d ever seen. He realized immediately 

that it was a special place — but also a fragile one.

The team worked to document every aspect of Cordell Bank and its 

marine life over the next several years, returning to the site as often as 

time and funds would permit. “We were pretty much getting an idea of 

what the place was like,” Schmieder says. Every trip yielded new charts, 

photographs and scores of creatures like sponges, sea stars and hydrocorals 

for their records, including several undescribed species. 

Still, amid the excitement of exploration and discovery, doubts about 

SIMoN

The Sanctuary Integrated Monitoring 

Network (SIMoN) — funded by the 

David and Lucile Packard Foundation 

— is born to connect the public to marine science and conservation through 

the website www.sanctuarysimon.org

In partnership with the U.S. 

Navy, NOAA raises the turret 

and other artifacts from the 

USS Monitor.

2002

2003Pixar Animation 

Studios’ fifth film, 

“Finding Nemo,” 

screens to huge 

success.

Listen to audio of Bob Schmieder 

(right) and other original members of 

the Cordell Expeditions team (above) 

talking about their first trip to Cordell 

Bank by scanning the QR code below 

or visiting http://go.usa.gov/YPkh

CORDELL, Continued from Page 8

MERITO

The Multicultural Education for 

Resource Issues Threatening 

Oceans (MERITO) initiative is 

established by Monterey Bay 

National Marine Sanctuary in 

2002, then adopted by Channel 

Islands National Marine Sanctuary in 2005 to raise awareness 

of ocean issues among the fastgrowing multicultural population 

of California.

Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine 

Sanctuary’s Whale Entanglement Response Network 

is established to free endangered humpback whales 

and other marine animals from life threatening 

entanglements from fishing line, boat moorings, 

and other marine gear.

Whale DisEntanglement

raising the turret

2002

10

Photo: Jenny Stock/Cordell 

Photo: Mojoscoast

Bank NMS
???? 201? Sanctuary Watch 11

2004

Capacity building

The sanctuary system establishes its International Marine 

Protected Area Management 

Capacity Building Program, 

thus far training more than 

2,000 partners and colleagues 

around the world in more than 

a hundred training sessions 

and workshops.

Habitat Areas

Flower Garden Banks 

National Marine Sanctuary’s 

scientific research leads to 

the designation of 15 Habitat 

Areas of Particular Concern

(HAPCs), including four Coral 

HAPCs that carry protection 

regulations. 

SPLASH

The Structure of Populations, Levels 

of Abundance, and Status of Humpback Whales program launches. 

This largest international collaborative study of any whale population 

cataloged 8,000 humpback whales, 

and collected more than 6,000 skin 

samples for DNA analysis.

2005

Sharkmobile

Gulf of the Farallones National 

Marine Sanctuary launches its 

“At Your School” Sharkmobile 

program to educate fourththrough sixth-grade students 

about shark biology and conservation issues at their schools.

2004 Facebook 

is launched.

2005

the future of Cordell Bank lingered. Around 1980, Schmieder learned 

about the National Marine Sanctuary System and its ongoing efforts to 

protect some of California’s most iconic ocean places. He wasted no time 

in contacting Dr. Nancy Foster, then director of the sanctuaries, to ask if 

NOAA would be interested in making Cordell Bank a sanctuary.

Her response was an emphatic “yes.” All she needed was for Schmieder 

to submit a formal letter nominating the sanctuary for designation. Much 

to her surprise, he refused.

Getting the Whole Story

“I felt that I had an incomplete story,” Schmieder recalls. “I was worried that if I went forward with the nomination, someone would say, ‘This 

doesn’t look like much!” He argued that more research remained to be 

done before they could claim to have a full description of Cordell Bank.

The sanctuary program agreed to give Cordell Expeditions more time 

— and additional funding — to complete its surveys of the bank. From 

that point on, the expedition took on a new meaning for Schmieder and 

his band of amateur marine scientists. “We were no longer explorers in 

our own little world,” he says. “We were a part of history. And we took 

that very seriously.”

By 1983, Schmieder decided that they had gathered sufficient information to make the case for sanctuary protection of Cordell Bank. He 

wrote a letter officially nominating the sanctuary, setting the wheels of 

bureaucracy in motion. 

Looking to the Future

In the years following, Schmieder’s connection to Cordell Bank gradually waned. His team concluded their research in 1985, and others took 

up the mantle of sanctuary designation. He says he watched the process 

with a mixture of great pride that Cordell Bank would be protected and 

disappointment that it was no longer “his” secret place.

The sanctuary process languished until 1989, when Representative Doug 

Bosco introduced a bill co-sponsored by then-representatives Barbara Boxer 

and Nancy Pelosi to push the designation through. Just like that, on May 24, 

the sanctuary was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush. 

Schmieder’s role in the sanctuary’s creation was largely overshadowed 

by the fanfare of the congressional designation, but he knew that he had 

been part of something momentous. And indeed, without his leadership 

and tremendous personal investment in the future of Cordell Bank, it 

might never have happened. 

“There’s no way I can adequately say how gratifying it is to see that 

what we did lives on.”

ocean film festival

Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary establishes the first 

fully sanctuary-sponsored ocean film festival in the country.

11

Photo: Joe Hoyt/NOAAPhoto: Cordell Expeditions
12 Sanctuary Watch ???? 201? 2005

Papahānaumokuākea

2006 New England’s Titanic

Discovered in Stellwagen Bank 

National Marine Sanctuary in 

1989, the Portland, dubbed “New 

England’s Titanic” for its sinking 

with the loss of 192 lives, is successfully listed on the National 

Register of Historic Places. 2006sister sanctuaries

Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary 

establishes the first international sister sanctuary 

network with the Dominican Republic. This partnership helps to protect the endangered humpback 

whale at both ends of its range. 

Advisory Councils

With the establishment 

of the Monitor National 

Marine Sanctuary Advisory 

Council, the suite of advisory councils for the sanctuary system is completed. 

There are currently more 

than 700 people actively 

engaged in sanctuary 

advisory councils across 

the nation.

The waters of Lake Michigan are home to well-preserved shipwrecks spanning more than 125 years of maritime travel and commerce on the Great Lakes. Groups 

like the Wisconsin Maritime Museum and Wisconsin Historical Society are working to secure greater long-term protection for these historical treasures.

WISCONSIN, Continued from Page 9

them connect with their shared history. She wanted that for Wisconsin. “I 

thought oh, wow, this is incredible! We could make this happen,” she says.

Laying the Groundwork

As plans for evaluating a possible national marine sanctuary in Wisconsin took shape, Bishop began working to rally support — first in the 

local schools, chamber of commerce, city council and mayor’s office, then 

in the governor’s office and state legislature. She talked to anyone who 

would listen about the incredible historical shipwrecks in Lake Michigan, 

and the importance of protecting them and sharing them with the world. 

“The first challenge was just explaining to people that this is not going to 

be another regulatory burden on their lives,” she says.

Bishop didn’t face the challenges alone. In addition to her work 

through the maritime museum, others like Meverden and Thomsen at the 

Wisconsin Historical Society played vital roles in building a groundswell 

of support for the sanctuary proposal. “I think we provide a really good 

complement to one another,” Meverden says. But as everyone involved 

would come to learn, sometimes even dedicated teamwork, widespread 

support and positive momentum are no guarantee of immediate, or even 

moderately swift, success. 

No Sanctuary in Sight?

Six years have passed since the effort to consider designating a sanctuary 

in Lake Michigan began, with little progress to show for it. Bishop remains 

optimistic, but admits that the lack of progress has been frustrating. “Never 

in my wildest imagination did I think it would take this long,” she says.

One of the hurdles facing the Wisconsin effort — or any new sanctuary designation effort — can be found in NOAA’s regulations for sanctuaries. Those regulations require that in order for any site to be actively 

considered for sanctuary status, it must come from a list of candidate sites, 

called the “Site Evaluation List.” NOAA’s regulations also state that this 

list of potential sanctuary candidate sites is inactive and would need to 

be reactivated if Wisconsin is to begin the designation process in earnest.

As a result, Bishop and her colleagues have spent much of the past 

half-dozen years in a holding pattern, hoping for a signal from NOAA or 

Congress that they can move forward. “We’ve felt like the girl sitting on 

the other side of the gym, waiting to be asked to dance,” she says.

 They aren’t alone. Communities around the nation have expressed interest in marine sanctuaries in places like the waters off St. Augustine 

in northeast Florida, Mallow’s Bay in Maryland, Santa Lucia Bank off 

California’s central coast, and many others. Their efforts vary widely in 

size, scope and level of support, but the end goal is the same: to ensure the 

future of the ocean places that matter to them.

In for the Long Haul

The politics are complicated, and Bishop says she knows it could easily take another six years or more to reach their goal, but she continues 

to see signs of encouragement. As recently as August, the Manitowoc 

City Council voted unanimously in favor of a resolution supporting the 

creation of a national marine sanctuary off their shores. 

When asked if she would ever contemplate giving up on the idea of a sanctuary for Wisconsin, Bishop responded with the conviction shared by countless others who have fought to protect special places for future generations 

throughout the 40-year history of the National Marine Sanctuary System.

“No. Never. The shipwrecks are going to be here for a long, long time, 

so I’m committed.”

“Thank You Ocean,”

the California-wide ocean 

public awareness campaign, is 

launched by the National Marine Sanctuary System and the 

California Natural Resources 

Agency. Thankyouocean.org 

reaches millions of citizens to 

help protect the ocean’s health 

and resources.

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, one of the last pristine, tropical, 

predator-dominated ecosystems left on the planet, are designated as 

Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

12

Photos: Tamara Thomsen/Wisconsin Historical Society
2008 2008

youth seat

The first youth seat is created in the Monitor National Marine 

Sanctuary Advisory Council. Hawaiian Islands Humpback 

Whale, Fagatele Bay, Channel Islands and Stellwagen Bank 

now also have youth seats on their advisory councils.

2007Intergovernmental

Policy Council

The Olympic Coast Intergovernmental Policy Council, 

the first of its kind in the 

nation, is formed to discuss 

co-management responsibilities of the Hoh, Makah and 

Quileute tribes, the Quinault 

Indian Nation, Olympic Coast 

National Marine Sanctuary 

and the state of Washington.

2007

Laying the Foundation

The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation has been the National Marine Sanctuary System’s closest ally and fervent supporter. 

Established in 2000, the foundation has made strides in spreading ocean conservation awareness across the nation, from classrooms 

to Capitol Hill. It owes much of that success to the vision, dedication and passion of people like these current and former board members. 

Ballard

Dr. Robert Ballard, best known for 

discovering the Titanic in 1985, 

is president of the Institute 

for Exploration at Mystic 

Aquarium & Institute 

for Exploration in 

Connecticut. Bob 

has a Ph.D. in 

marine geology and 

geophysics from the 

University of Rhode 

Island, in addition to 

13 honorary degrees.

Cousteau

Jean-Michel Cousteau 

is president of the 

Ocean Futures Society, 

created to continue the 

legacy of his father, Capt. 

Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Jean-Michel 

has produced more than 70 films 

and has received many awards, 

including the Environmental Hero 

Award at the White House.

Earle

Dr. Sylvia Earle, also known as “Her 

Deepness,” is an oceanographer, 

scientist, author 

and National 

Geographic 

explorer-inresidence who 

founded the Mission 

Blue Foundation. A 

former NOAA chief 

scientist, Sylvia played a key role 

in the Clinton administration’s 

decision to double the budget 

of national marine 

sanctuaries.

Nelson

Robert Lyn Nelson is widely regarded as the originator of the 

modern marine art movement for his “two worlds” style 

of painting, which simultaneously depicts life above 

and below the ocean surface. His masterpiece 

“From Sea to Shining Sea” was displayed at 

the Smithsonian as part of an exhibition 

supporting the National Marine 

Sanctuary System.

Talbot

Bob Talbot is a world-renowned marine 

photographer and an award-winning 

filmmaker. His work can be seen in Time 

Magazine and National Geographic, on 

CBS, Discovery Channel and PBS, and in 

feature films. He has received the Ark Trust 

Genesis Award and the Department of 

Commerce’s Environmental Hero Award.

Panetta

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has 

long been a passionate advocate for the ocean. 

While a member of the House of Representatives, Panetta played a major role in establishing Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. 

Panetta was also co-chair of the Joint Ocean 

Commission Initiative and was honored with 

the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation’s 

Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. 

Garcia

Terry D. Garcia 

is the executive 

vice president for 

Mission Programs 

for the National 

Geographic Society. 

Prior to joining the Society in 1999, 

Garcia held the title of assistant 

secretary of commerce for oceans 

and atmosphere and deputy NOAA 

administrator under the Department 

of Commerce.

For more information on the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and to read the bios of the current Board of Trustees, go to http://www.nmsfocean.org/about-us/board-trustees/board-trustees/

Largest post-WW2 economic 

recession begins

Long-term refuge

Eleven marine reserves and 

two marine conservation areas 

are established within Channel Islands National Marine 

Sanctuary to provide long-term 

refuge for marine life.

shipping lanes

To protect endangered whales in Stellwagen 

Bank National Marine Sanctuary, the International 

Maritime Organization 

accepts a proposal to 

redirect shipping lanes 

in the sanctuary.

Two Brothers

NOAA maritime 

archaeologists discover the scattered 

remains of the Nantucket whaleship 

Two Brothers at French Frigate Shoals, 

connecting the 

small island 

of Nantucket 

with one of the 

largest marine 

protected areas 

in the world.

Photos: Nelson: Jaime Windon; Cousteau: Tom Ordway; Talbot: Amanda Banks, http://amandabanks.com; Ballard: Flickr/Erik Charlton; Panetta: USN Petty Officer 1st Class Chad McNeeley; Garcia: National Geographic; Earle: Matt McIntosh
HHHeaaart

For the first time, 

Sanctuaries 

co-hosts the First 

International 

Conference on 

Marine Mammal 

Protected Areas, 

bringing together 

more than 200 

managers, 

scientists and 

educators from 

40 countries.

2009

Species

Discovered

Seven new species 

of deep-sea gorgonian corals, two 

new sponges and 

one new nudibranch 

are discovered 

in Olympic Coast 

National Marine 

Sanctuary.

Change A

of

2008 3D visualization of the 

bathymetry around 

Rose Atoll

Ocean Guardian

NOAA’s Ocean Guardian School program launches throughout California to 

implement projects that help protect the 

ocean. Through the program, students 

are actively engaged in picking up 

trash, recycling, removing non-native 

plants and numerous other 

stewardship efforts.

+ Rose Atoll

Rose Atoll Marine 

National Monument 

is established by 

presidential proclamation. 

Rose Atoll is the easternmost Samoan island and the 

southernmost point of the United States. The monument 

covers approximately 13,440 square miles.

R/V Manta

The newest and largest sanctuary research vessel, R/V 

Manta is launched at Flower Garden Banks National 

Marine Sanctuary to conduct 

research and education.

2009International

Cooperation
+ Davidson Seamount

rt

Abanner in the tiny Alpena Regional Airport terminal trumpets the 

“home of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.” Locals speak 

glowingly about the sanctuary’s effect on the community. Yet just 15 

years ago, this small Michigan town was the battleground for one of the 

fiercest disputes in the 40-year history of the national marine sanctuaries.

A Rocky Beginning

Deb Pardike, executive director of the Alpena Convention and Visitors Bureau, has lived in Alpena since she was 11 years old. She has made it her life’s 

work to promote the city and help preserve its heritage, but when she stood up for 

the designation of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in 1997, her fellow 

citizens turned against her. 

“I got calls at my home, threatening calls at work — people called me the devil! 

So many of them just hated me for what I was doing,” she recalls.

Pardike found herself the lone advocate for a marine sanctuary in a community 

that resented the idea of federal government interference in the waters of Lake 

Huron. “There was really no one else out there who was supporting the sanctuary,” 

says Ellen Brody, who led the sanctuary designation effort for NOAA’s Office of 

National Marine Sanctuaries.

10 millionth 

visitor

The National 

Marine Sanctuary 

System website 

(sanctuaries.noaa.

gov) receives its 

10 millionth visitor, 

achieving more 

than 25 million 

page views.

2010“If Reefs Could Talk,” 

a 10-day mission to the only undersea 

laboratory in the world, Aquarius, brings 

the science of ocean conservation to the 

public via 34 live internet broadcasts, 

reaching half a million people. 

USS Macon

The airship USS Macon wreck site, found 

in Monterey Bay National Marine 

Sanctuary, is added to the 

National Register of 

Historic Places.

World Heritage Site

Papahānaumokuākea 

Marine National Monument is 

inscribed as a mixed natural 

and cultural World Heritage 

Site by UNESCO.

becomes the first seamount 

protected in the United States 

when it is included within the 

boundaries of Monterey Bay 

National Marine Sanctuary. 

Less than 0.1% of the world’s 

seamounts have been explored, 

and relatively few are protected.

In memory of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, 

the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries creates 

the Ocean for Life program to enhance cultural 

understanding through ocean science. The program 

brings together 

nearly 60 multicultural students from 

the Middle East and 

North America to 

discover marine science, conservation 

and how the ocean 

connects us all.

research Area

Following the implementation of a spearfishing ban 

at Gray’s Reef National 

Marine Sanctuary in 2010, 

a research-only area is 

established in the sanctuary 

to help scientists assess 

the impacts of human and 

natural events within and 

outside the sanctuary.

2011

By Matt Dozier

How Two Communities

Embraced Their Sanctuaries

2011

2010

15

Photo: Thunder Bay NMS
Sanctuaries in the news

Sanctuaries receive 800 million news media impressions, 

worth an estimated advertising value of more than $29 million.

Brody says the best measure of the community’s displeasure came in 1997, 

when Alpena residents voted on a non-binding ballot question asking whether 

they were for or against creating a national marine sanctuary in Thunder Bay. 

The response was overwhelmingly negative. Out of more than 2,500 people 

who cast their votes, a whopping 70 percent said they opposed the sanctuary. 

It was a harsh rebuke to those who had been working for years to 

protect Thunder Bay’s unique collection of remarkably well-preserved 

historical shipwrecks through sanctuary designation. “Certainly, I was 

frustrated,” says Brody. “The opposition was intense, but I guess the magnitude of it was sort of surprising.”

Meanwhile, angry divers, fishermen and salvage operators wore Tshirts and buttons bearing the slogan “Say No to NOAA” and packed 

public meetings to voice their objections. Long-time dive charter operator Steve Kroll was one of the many who spoke out against the sanctuary. 

He says he and others were concerned that increased government control 

would lead to restricted access to Thunder Bay’s shipwrecks.

“We’d been diving these wrecks for years,” Kroll says. “We didn’t want 

[NOAA] telling us we couldn’t dive the wrecks, and we didn’t want to be 

charged fees to dive them.”

Conflict in the Keys

Alpena’s “Say No to NOAA” attitude was far from a new response to 

sanctuary designation. In fact, the slogan had first cropped up nearly a 

decade earlier, some 1,400 miles south of Alpena on the sunny shores of 

the Florida Keys. 

Bad blood swirled around the creation of Florida Keys National Marine 

Sanctuary in 1990, which combined two existing sanctuaries — Looe Key 

and Key Largo — into a much larger protected area that encompassed the 

condition reports

The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries completes 

the first set of 14 science condition reports, providing 

a snapshot of the status and trends of water quality, 

habitat, living resources, archaeological 

resources, and the human 

activities that affect them.

Climate

Symposium

The first of its kind, the 

First Stewards Climate 

Symposium is held 

at the Smithsonian’s 

National Museum of 

the American Indian. 

2012

2011 Project Shiphunt

Five high school students from Saginaw, 

Mich., embark on Project Shiphunt, using 

cutting-edge technology to hunt for a 

sunken ship lost to 

the depths of Lake 

Huron’s Shipwreck 

Alley in Thunder 

Bay National Marine 

Sanctuary.

new species

A brand new species 

of bird, Bryan’s shearwater, is described by 

Dr. Peter Pyle in the 

Papahānaumokuākea 

Marine National 

Monument. It is the 

first new species of 

bird discovered in the 

U.S. since the 1970s.

Take Pride

At Channel Islands 

National Marine 

Sanctuary, the Naturalist Corps volunteer 

program is named the 

Take Pride in America 

Outstanding Federal 

Volunteer Program of 

the year. More than 

140 volunteers are 

trained to educate 

passengers on whale 

watch tours and island 

hikes, engaging more 

than 300,000 people 

every year.

To protest the designation of Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, the 

Conch Coalition hung the sanctuary’s first superintendent in effigy in 1990.

entirety of Florida Keys waters. From the beginning, the designation process 

was plagued by bitter disputes and accusations of deception from both sides.

Opponents of the sanctuary called it a federal “power grab” and said 

NOAA had no intention of keeping its promises. Sanctuary advocates 

shot back, alleging that the anti-NOAA activists in the Keys were funded 

and staffed by outside interests. Billy Causey, the first superintendent of 

the sanctuary, was even hung in effigy by a group of irate protestors who 

called themselves the “Conch Coalition.” 

“That was a tough time,” Causey says. “It got to be pretty ugly.”

Bill Kelly, now the executive director of the Florida Keys Commercial Fishing Association, saw the battle unfolding around Florida Keys 

National Marine Sanctuary’s designation in 1990. “The Keys were livid,” 

Kelly recalls. “Things like government control and law enforcement intervention were deeply resented at the time.” 

It’s no coincidence that the same sentiments were echoed in Alpena 

later in the decade, Brody says. Many Michigan residents knew about the 

Keys struggle from spending winters in Florida, and the Conch Coalition 

even took out an anti-sanctuary ad in the Alpena newspaper. Despite the 

vocal opposition, however, the efforts of Deb Pardike and others to rally 

community support eventually paid off, and Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary was designated in October 2000.

From Cynic to Supporter

Twelve years later, Steve Kroll stood before the House Subcommittee 

on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans, and prepared to testify on a proposal 

to expand the Thunder Bay sanctuary boundaries from 448 square miles 

to more than 4,000 square miles.

“It’s very important that you understand that originally I was against 

establishment of the sanctuary,” Kroll’s testimony began. “I believed having the federal government determine what we should do with our resources would lead to too many restrictions. This attitude was shared by 

many citizens and expressed at public hearings prior to designation.”

But instead of criticizing the assembled members of Congress and 

NOAA leaders for imposing unwanted bureaucracy on the people of 

Michigan, Kroll went on to paint a radically different picture of the sanctuary: “The sanctuary has proven itself as a trusted partner, not just with 

the state of Michigan, but also with the local community. I’ve been involved in the process and can assure you it’s real and working.”

So, what changed? It began with the sanctuary advisory council, which 

was created to give divers, fishermen, boaters and other user groups a voice in 

the sanctuary’s management. Kroll, who has served on the council as a diving 

representative and council chair, describes a process of open communication 

and compromise that helped the sanctuary earn the trust of the local community. “It allowed people to have their voice and see over the course of time 

One million hours

The sanctuary system receives 

its one millionth volunteer hour. 

From removing trash to counting 

whales and educating school 

children, volunteers across the 

country perform a variety of 

critical functions in community 

service to help conserve the 

country’s ocean and coastal 

treasures for future generations.

16

Photos: Florida Keys NMS
Today, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is a valued partner in Alpena 

and the centerpiece of the city’s economic revitalization.

that their input matters,” he says. “That’s the way you get ownership.”

The other element, Kroll says, was education. “The sanctuary is helping 

bring maritime heritage back into schools, taking kids out on the water,” 

he says. “Along this whole northeastern shore of Michigan, people who 

live here are reconnecting to their past.”

Changing Minds, Producing Results

Visit either of these communities today and you will see a very different relationship between the two sanctuaries and local residents than 

in the early days of their designation. Gone are the “Say No to NOAA” 

signs. The dialogue at public meetings is civil rather than confrontational. 

Sanctuary staff are treated as peers instead of pariahs.

“I can wear a sanctuary shirt to the grocery store now,” jokes Deputy 

Superintendent Mary Tagliareni. At one time, Tagliareni says, she hesitated to advertise her NOAA affiliation for fear of being stopped by a 

disgruntled resident looking for an argument.

Bill Kelly, who as a lifelong fisherman had initial doubts about the motives behind the Florida Keys sanctuary, says those doubts were quickly 

erased by his interactions with sanctuary staff. In people like Causey and 

Tagliareni, Kelly says he saw like-minded individuals working toward a 

goal they shared in common: ensuring the future health of Florida’s ocean 

ecosystems. And indeed, over the past two decades the Florida 

Keys have seen major strides in ocean management 

and conservation that benefit both local communities and the marine environment.

“It’s so much to our benefit to preserve these places,” Kelly says. “It’s 

far better to have cooperative 

management than to always be 

at each other’s throats.”

In Alpena, the Thunder 

Bay sanctuary is now a 

hub of education, science and tourism for an 

area that has suffered 

decades of economic 

downturn. The sanctuary is a valued partner 

in the community, one 

that works to protect 

Thunder Bay’s marine 

resources but also to 

link local residents with 

their heritage and restore a sense of pride in the community.

“The community as a whole has embraced the sanctuary,” Pardike says. 

“Local people aren’t just supporters of the sanctuary; they’ve become stewards.”

Building a Better Future

Gaining the support of the public is a positive 

step for these sanctuaries and others that have 

experienced similar turnarounds, but it is 

only one step. Going forward, Causey 

says, the sanctuaries have a responsibility to work with their stakeholders to achieve their mutual goals.

“One of the most important 

things is to not lose the connection with the community,” he 

says. “You can never take that 

for granted.”

With former opponents of 

the sanctuaries now some of 

their most fervent supporters, 

places like Alpena and the Florida Keys are now among our nation’s best hopes in turning the 

tide of ocean conservation for 

the better.

17

Photo: Thunder Bay NMS

Photo: Thunder Bay NMS

Smallest to Largest

Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary expands its 

protections in a move that takes it from the smallest 

national marine sanctuary to the largest. The new 

name proposed is the National Marine Sanctuary of 

American Samoa.

40th Anniversary

The National Marine Sanctuary System 

celebrates its 40th anniversary, four 

decades of conserving and protecting 

America’s underwater treasures. 

...an essential part of our ocean infrastructure... By 

understanding 

our past, we can 

manage better for the

future. 

...ideal places

to conduct the critical science necessary to 

understand and address the changes taking 

place in our oceans and atmosphere...

...one of our best 

hopes of making sure 

the ocean economy is 

sustainable and productive for generations to 

come...

Marine sanctuaries 

 have the promise of enlarging 

 our vistas, teaching our 

 history, restoring our 

 souls and conserving 

 discrete areas of 

 the ocean.

 ...important tools to

 restore productivity

 and sustain cultures that 

 depend on the sea... ...living research laboratories...

AN INCREASING ROLE IN

SUSTAINING OUR FUTURE
SANCTUARYSNAPSHOT Since 1999, Sanctuary Watch has evolved from a humble four-page newsletter into a full-color, 16-page 

magazine. Here’s a look back at the covers from the publication’s 13-year history.